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It costs developers more in city fees to build in the suburbs – but not much more.Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

If Ottawa wants more intensification inside the Greenbelt, why are city councillors poised to increase development charges on new single family homes by 23 per cent? For that matter, why do they think charges for row housing and stacked apartments should go up 28 per cent?

One of the perceived merits of intensification is that it takes advantage of the pipes, roads, libraries and parks the city has already provided. The big increase in inner-area development fees undermines that and helps make housing in established areas even less affordable.

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It would seem counterproductive to discourage the type of development the city says it wants by jolting fees upward, but that didn’t seem to bother councillors at the city’s planning committee last week. They were more concerned that new provincial rules might hamper their ability to collect money from developers, and ultimately, from the people who buy new homes.

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Councillors like development charges because they let the city build new stuff without having to tax existing residents.

We have heard a lot of rhetoric about how important it is to restrain suburban development, but the comparable numbers there are going up by only four and eight per cent. Despite the planned increase, development fees in the suburbs are still higher than they are inside the Greenbelt, but not by a lot. A single family home inside the belt attracts development charges of $30,977 while a new suburban home comes in at $36,388.

Both of those numbers have been on a steady upward trajectory. A decade ago, the city charged $11,218 for a detached home inside the belt and $19,921 in the suburbs. Since then, fees have nearly tripled in the areas where the city wants to intensify and nearly doubled in new suburbs. Every year, the fees rise due to inflation in the cost of things on the city’s to-build list and any additions. Planning committee was told that development charges in the inner area are rising largely because of some big park projects.

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The theory is that growth should pay for growth, and the city does a detailed calculation to determine how much cost new development adds to road building, water services, storm water, police, fire, transit, affordable housing, paramedics and corporate studies.

City planning boss Steve Willis stressed that development charges are simply a mechanical calculation. Add up all the projected costs, then distribute them between new home owners and people already living in the neighbourhood and you have the development charge.

It does raise the question of who, if anyone, speaks for the interests of people who need new homes and apartments. Some development charges are certainly necessary, but the steady increase is a concern. At least, it ought to be.

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Councillors like development charges because they let the city build new stuff without having to tax existing residents. No doubt that’s why some councillors were perturbed by some of the changes the provincial government has proposed in an attempt to increase housing supply and make it more affordable.

The big one is ending a peculiar process under which developers are granted increased height or density allowances on their land in exchange for money for a community benefit such as a library or a day care. They have to cut a deal and the deal varies according to what’s acceptable to the ward councillor.

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It’s a process that feels uncomfortably close to a shakedown. The provincial plan would replace it with a standard charge based on the value of the land to be developed. Councillors are worried that this will limit their access to loot, especially money for park development. Perhaps there is a wrinkle that needs to be fixed, but the principle behind the provincial plan is sound.

Councillors need to remember that every development charge dollar is really a tax on new residents, a tax levied in advance for services that often take years to materialize. That’s a point that councillors might want to consider, especially those who champion housing affordability.